Gas burner control apparatus



Sept. 20, 1932. A. H. TINNERMAN GAS BURNER CONTROL APPARATUS 4Sheets-Shet 1 Filed March 9, 1929 $762 2 I gjwuwntoa wwww dam M A Sept.20, 1932. A. H. TINNERMAN GAS BURNER CONTROL APPARATUS Filed March 9,1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v gn-mwfoz @w, M% V dtboz we g Sept. 20, 1932. A.H. TINNERMAN GAS BURNER CONTROL APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March9, 1929 ac. souzcs '38 gwuentor QMM/f (7% Zmwwm/w Sept. 20, 1932. A. H.TINNERMAN 1,878,552

I GAS BURNER CONTROL APPARATUS Filed March 9, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 4CSOURCE gnwntoz QM 1 7M abbozmqq Patented Sept. 20, 1932 8 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE Application filed male, 1929. Serial m. $45,027.

This invention relates to gas stoves and ranges and has particularreference to stoves which are used for cooking and baking in householdservice. Considerable difliculty has heretofore been experienced in theoperation of gas stoves in preventing the escape of unburned gas,particularly if the valve handle should be inadvertently turned off, orif the liquid contents of a container should spill over and extinguishthe flame. An effort to overcome this diflicult has been made bymaintainin the pilot light in operation with provision or conductingunburned gas to the light, but it has been found that in some instances,the ignition of the gas occurs with suflicient force to extinguish thepilot light and also the burner flame.

- A principal object of the present invention is to provide means forautomatically causing the ignition of a burner in the event that theflame should be extinguished inadvertently or in the event that the gasshould be turned on accidentally. The present invention is also intendedto prevent the occurrence of explosion if a gas valve should be turnedon by children.

A further object is to obviate the neces-' sity for the use 2f agas'manifold and a plurality of valves at the front edge of theinvention is illustrated in the stove, and yet to permit the use ofvalve operatin, handles at the front edge of the stove. n this way, thevalve handles are readily accessible for use, and the gas valves, whichnormally present an objectionable appearance are concealed from view. 4l

The preferred means for carryin out my rawings, wherein Fig. l'is a planview of a stoveembodying my invention Fig. 2is a plan view of the gasand air distributors; Fig. 3 is a troller associated therewith" 1horizontal section taken through the 'distributor; Fig. 4 is a frontelevatlon of a gas valve operatingv handle with a circuit con 5 is averne '5'-5 in tical section taken along the individual burners.

connected to the associated valve Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a wiring diagram;Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a stove having a modification of myinvention; and Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 in Fig. 7.

Referring-particularly to Fig. 1, 10 indicates a as range of the usualtype having a burner ox 11, and an oven box 12, the burners areindicated at 13 as being arranged in the customary manner within theburner box, and as having hollow shanks 14 through i a which the gas isconducted. Heretofore, t e gas has usually been conducted to the burnersthrougha manifold positioned in front of the stove with conduits leadingfrom the manifold to each burner. This necessitated the use of a gaspipe which extended from the rear to the front of the stove and which,in many instances has presented an unsight- 1y appearance.

In the present invention the manifold 1n front of the stove iseliminated, and instead, the gas is conducted through a supply p1pe 15which extends toward the center of the burner box from the rear part ofthe stove. It is thus normally concealed from view. The supply pipe isshown as terminating in a housing 16 from which pi cs 17 lead to the Ava ve 18 is associated with each distributor outlet and, each iscontrolled by a handle 19 mounted preferably at the front of the stove.A red 20 may extend inwardly from each handle and be by some form ofmechanism, which permits the valve to be opened to the desired degreewith a relatively small turn of the handle. One form; of mechanismsuitable for this purpose com prises a bevel gear 21 on each rod whlchmeshes with another beveled gear 22 on the associated valve stem.

The air for supporting combustion ma be brought into the burnerbox by aconduit 25, which can also enter from the reanof thestove and terminatein a casm 26 which encloses the housing 16. .Suitab eair circulatingvalves 27 are associated with the casing 26, and with each gas valve, toinsure proper proportions of air and gas for obtaining efiicientoperation of the burners.

To prevent the escape of unburned gas from any of the burners, I providemeans for automatically igniting the gas if for any reason it should bepermitted to escape from any of the burners. I accomplish this result inseveral ways. In Fig. 1, an electrical igniter is caused to operatewhenever the gas handle is turned to the on position, provided the gasflame is extinguished. This igniter may take the form of an electricalignition device such as a spark plug indicated at 30, which isassociated with each burner, and which is connected to a source ofelectrical supply. The igniter is'intended to be operated only when theflame is extinguished. To this end, I may utilize a. thermostat 31 whichis connected in series with the spark plug circuit and which is disposedin the path of the burner flame. The thermostat is so arranged that theheat from the burner flame will cause it to operate to open the ignitercircuit and to hold it open so long as the flame is lit.

A thermostat is set-to close the igniter circuit as soon as the flame isextinguished. By utilizing a valve controlled switch in the ignitercircuit, the operation of the igniter is automatically effected wheneverthe flame is extinguished and the valve is turned on. This switch may beof any desired form which is connected in series with the ignitercircuit, and which is closed whenever the handle is turned apredetermined degree. A suitable switch for this purpose is indicated inFig. 4, as comprising a movable contact plate 32 which is rigidlymounted on the rod 20 and which is arranged to engage contact plates 33and 34 whenever the handle 19 is turned a slight degree towards the onposition. The contact plates, as shown, are semi-circular in shape andsince the usual arrangement is to provide a quarter turned handle, it isevident that the circuit through the controller will be closed, so longas the .valve is turned on to a sufiicient extent to cause the escape ofgas.

igniter. In this circuit, the current flows from a source of alternatingcurrent supply to a conductor 36, then throu h a primary winding 37 of atransformer, t ence throug the thermostatic switch 31 and the mainswitch 32 and back to the source of supply through a conductor 38. Thesecondary winding of the transformer is indicated at 39, and isconnected through a line 41 to a spark coil 4.2. From thence currentflows to the igniter 30 and back through a. line 29 to the secondary ofthe transformer. A suitable condenser 43 is placed across the poles ofthe secondary winding of the transformer in the usual manner. While Ihave shown a spark lug as being used for the igniter, I have ound that aglow lighter will also operate in a satisfactory manner. Referring nowto Figs. 7 and 8, I have shown a modification of my invention whichutilizes the principal of an igniter for lighting the gas but whichobviates the necessity for an igniter at each burner with a circuitcontroller, which is operated by each valve. The modification takes theform of a gas pilot which remains ignited at all times. Gas passagewayslead from the respective burners to the immediate vicinity of the pilotand serve to conduct unburned gases to the pilot. The arrangement is socarried out that such gases are immediately ignited as soon as theyescape from any burner. To insure constant ignition of the pilot, Iprovide means for automatically igniting it if for any reason, the flameshould be extinguished.

Referring now more in detail to the apparatus, 50 indicates a gas passaeway which leads from the distributor and w ich provides an outlet for apilot light. A casing 51 extends over the pilot and provides a chamberinto which gas may be conducted from any burner. An inverted U-shapedmember 52 is shown adjacent one of the burners and as being inclinedupwardly at the pilot and to assist in conducting the gases in a naturalmanner to the desired point. Similar passageways lead fromthedistributor to each burner. To facilitate ignition of the oven burner, Imay employ a relay pilot indicated at 55 within a casing 56. This relayis shown as being disposed near the edge of the burner box ad acent theoven. One passageway 57 leads downwardly from the relay casing to theoven burner 58 while another passageway I 59 to the main pilot and willagain be ignite To assure ignition of the main pilot, I have shown anelectrical igniter which operates in" the same manner as that heretoforedescribed. The parts comprising the igniter circuit bear the samenumbers as those indicated in the dia am of Fig. 6.

rom the foregoing description, it Wlll be obvious that my inventioninsures automatic i nition of gas flowing from any burner, and thattheapparatus for effecting such operation may be readily incorporated inexisting types of stove construction. It is also 0bvious that thepresent invention eliminates the necessity for the use of a manifold atthe front of the stove and that as a result the appearance of the stoveis thereby greatly enhanced.

I claim:

In a gas stove, the combination with a burner box, and an oven box, aburner in the oven box, a pilot light in the burner box, means forconductin gas from said burner to 6 the pilot light where y gas escapingfrom the burner is automatically ignited, and a relay pilot lightinterposed in said means. In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix mysignature.

ALBERT H. TINNERMAN.

